WMU basketball team's MAC West title hopes hinge on swing through East

Erik Holladay | Special to the Kalamazoo GazetteWMU point guard Mike Douglas, left, who is fouled by Central Michigan's Auston Barnes during Saturday's game, will have a tough matchup on his hands Wednesday. Douglas will likely draw the task of defending Ohio star point guard D.J. Cooper.

KALAMAZOO — The Western Michigan University men's basketball team finished the first half of its Mid-American Conference West Division slate with a 3-2 record.

Both of the third-place Broncos' MAC losses were on the road, at Ball State and Eastern Michigan, respectively. BSU and EMU are tied for first, now 4-2 after both lost Tuesday.

Now, WMU and its divisional brethren make their six-game home-and-road ventures against the East Division. The title pursuit truly begins in earnest.

“It's a big-time place to play at, big crowd and everything,” Broncos senior guard Demetrius Ward said about the Convocation Center, which has averaged crowds of nearly 5,800 this season, including a big attendance spike (13,011) in Saturday's win over Miami of Ohio on Gary Trent Day.

Making the environment especially difficult, according to Ward and senior Mike Douglas, is the Bobcats' student section, which is considered by many the best in the MAC.

“They've got an outstanding student section, the kids are all over you,” WMU coach Steve Hawkins said. “From that standpoint, it's nothing we haven't seen after going to Duke or Gonzaga, but it's still a difficult place to play. But what makes them tough to play, most of all, are their players.”

Demetrius Ward

Said Ward: “(The Ohio students) know personal things about you. Freshman year, I studied for the wrong test and I'm running down the lane and they said, 'How does it feel spending hours studying for the wrong test?' I'm like, 'How did they know that?' It was just, like, personal things. It's a good place to play at. You love to play at hype arenas.”

If the Broncos can pass this test, then it certainly could give them a leg-up on their peers. The East Division swing tends to make or break teams' West Division title hopes.

Look no further than last season's race. WMU completed the first half of its West slate with a 3-2 mark and trailed Ball State by two games. At the end of each team's trek through the East, the Broncos and Cardinals sported identical 6-5 MAC records. Ball State still had to make a trip to Kalamazoo, a pivotal game the Broncos won to earn a share of the divisional title. Three days later, WMU captured the outright crown.